Victoria Bridge is a road bridge running north–south between

Datchet Datchet is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England, located on the north bank of the River Thames. Historically part of Buckinghamshire, and the Stoke Hundred, the village was eventually tr ...

and

Windsor, Berkshire Windsor is a historic market town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British monarch. The town is situated west of ...

, England. It crosses the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

on the reach between

Old Windsor Lock Old Windsor Lock is a lock (water transport), lock on the River Thames in England on the bank (geography), right bank beside Old Windsor, Berkshire. The lock marks the downstream end of the New cutting (transportation), Cut, a meander cutoff ...

and

Romney Lock Romney Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England near Windsor and Eton, about half a mile downstream of Windsor Bridge. It is on the Windsor side of the river next to a boatyard and adjoins Romney Island, a long strip-shaped ait in the ...

. It was rebuilt in 1967 to replace a damaged bridge. The Victoria and

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

Bridges in Datchet were built to replace the old

Datchet Bridge Datchet Bridge, also known as The Divided Bridge, was a road bridge which crossed the River Thames at Datchet from 1706 until it was demolished in 1848. It was situated on the reach between Old Windsor Lock and Romney Lock and linked Windsor on ...

as part of the re-routing of the Datchet to Windsor roads following the expansion of the grounds of

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...

. Prince Albert is said to have had a part in the design Victoria Bridge was built in 1851, paid for partly by the Windsor, Staines and Richmond Railway Company who were keen to have access to Windsor across part of the castle property. The original bridge was built of cast iron with stone abutments. The bridge was severely damaged by a group of tanks crossing it during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

but was not closed until 1963, operating with weight restrictions. There was a temporary

Bailey bridge A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British for military use during the Second World War and saw extensive use by British, Canadian and American military engineering units. A ...

until 1966, then the central crossing was replaced by a concrete structure and reopened in 1967. Under the terms of the original contract,

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

were required to contribute to the cost.Thames web on the Windsor bridges
/ref> The

Thames Path The Thames Path is a National Trail following the River Thames from its source near Kemble, Gloucestershire, Kemble in Gloucestershire to the Woolwich foot tunnel, south east London. It is about long. A path was first proposed in 1948 but it onl ...

crosses the bridge rejoining the original towpath on the Windsor side for the northern part of Home Park, the towpath access in

Home Park, Windsor The Home Park, previously known as the Little Park (and originally Lydecroft Park), is a private Royal park, administered by the Crown Estate. It lies on the eastern side of Windsor Castle in the town and former civil parish of Windsor in the E ...

having been lost due to the

Windsor Castle Act 1848 The Windsor Castle Act 1848 was a Private Act of Parliament enacted for the British royal family that reformed land use and rights around Windsor Castle, in Berkshire. The Act's main purpose was to create Home Park. All new roads and bridges we ...

References

Bridges across the River Thames Bridges in Berkshire Bridges completed in 1967 Datchet Road bridges in England Windsor, Berkshire {{UK-bridge-struct-stub

See also

References